Be Excellent To Each Other

Yes, says I.

Sister Act, however, is not. It is a film with songs in.

I agree with the almighty Grim...

They don't sing plot points, or tell stupid annoying stories through song, and none of the music actually has anything to do with the story or characters, so no.

I say not. To me, the point of a musical is that the character development and plot are mostly carried by the music. That's not the case with the Blues Brothers - it's a film with cool choons in.

It's fucking obvious, isn't it?

People at work are being daft.

Edit: @Mali. Craster and Sinister Agent are also daft. By that logic, Grease isn't a musical.

Yes it is - because the singing is about the plot. You could skip every song from the Blues Brothers and not miss a single bit of the plot. Not so with Grease or Cats or Les Mis.

I'm pretty sure you could do that with Grease. Also Think is (sort of) part of the plot.

Craster and SA are correct.

I would classify a musical by how the incidental characters react to the music.

If they ignore it or join in, that's probably a musical

If they look on in horror or run out of the way, you're probably not in a musical, chap.

The songs are not integral to the plot so it is not a musical, neither is Sister Act.

This is my argument. For the most part, Blues Brothers is a film with music in, but Think and Shake A Tailfeather are definitely musical numbers.

AH, but the songs ARE integral to the plot of sister act, just not the content of the songs

Oh yeah, the barbershop is a step out of reality isn't it

Wait - what film are we talking about?

i say yes as it was a show before the film. I think.

The 'think' bit. Ah wait, not barbershop... diner. This befuddled brain of mine!

It was a Saturday Night Live sketch.

Think again.
\

Ahh, but what is Blues Brothers 2000? (apart from a steaming pile of turd, naturally)

It's musical but I wouldn't class it as a Musical.

Good point let me rephrase that.

The lyrics of the songs are not integral to the plot so it's not a musical

Saying that Think actually is but is one song enough to tip the balance?

i have seen the stage show twice. Bloody great.

You could run the same story, but with the nuns becoming acrobats or bungee jumpers (well, maybe not)

Vote added!

Does it matter? Are people afraid to watch musicals (or, god forbid, enjoy them) for fear of their sexuality being questioned?

Or is this just an Important Taxonomic Question?

Of course it does. People are disagreeing with me.

I can sit through The Blues Brothers without wishing to put my foot through the screen. Ergo: Not a musical.

What percentage of the cast is dead now?

So what the hell happened at Ray's Music Exchange?

A kid got shot at. And he "threw in the black keys for free".

I'm thinking a film that relies on music as the whole point of the film & that a majority of it is performed by the cast is a musical. The only way the argument about irrelevant lyrics is a good one is if you believe that music isn't music unless it has meaningful lyrics as opposed to a voice just being used as another instrument & that would be silly

Also, I found an analysis on whether it's a musical or not.
Also, also, for more relevant lyrics there's the James Brown (as a minister) singing gospel scene where Jake sees the light & they embark "on a mission from God".

None of my gay friends have ever expressed a deep and lasting love for the Blues Brothers.

Therefore, not musical.

I hope you killed them.

Litmus test: Take away the music. If there's any reason left to watch the film, it's not a musical. Blues Brothers remains amusing and mostly makes sense, at least insofar as an absurdist comedy can. Sister Act remains watchable enough, though a little bland. Grease becomes about twenty times less intolerable, but there's less point in watching it than ever. Oklahoma becomes utterly pointless. Singing in the Rain becomes pointless and frankly bizarre.

South Park is the only exception that comes to mind, but there's always an exception.

You mean it's absurdist in that it would be a film about musicians who never play music, even on stage? How would that be worth watching?
(Admittedly I'd probably watch it out of interest, but then I go out my way to watch properly strange stuff like 'El Topo' )

Do your gay friends also deeply love Cannibal!: The Musical? I do.

I think he means as in the Music that isn't on stage. In the same way that A Beautiful Mind is not a film about university campus life in the 1950s.

Moi aussi.

Oliver! says you're a wrongface.

Overruled. Oliver is rubbish even with the music.

HUFF! *thrashes around* HUFF! Oliver Reed is awesome in that film.

Oliver always feels like you've been watching it for the past 3 days. Ever since Dancing with Wolves that is one of my first determining factors as to whether a film is great or just good.

Going back to the original question - The Commitments - where does this stand on the Musical/Non musical spectrum?

Musicals have exposition in all or most of the songs, I'd say. For instance, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Oklahoma, anything based on a Gilbert & Sullivan stage play. However, The Sound of Music is regarded as a musical, but none of the songs are plot-related - it is somewhat of a wossname.

I'd say nay to Commitments, as the songs don't deliver exposition. Personally, like.

Jebus, I just had a moment with Chris there.

It would still be really odd though.

How would they find god?
They would tell Ray his piano is fucked & he would say no it isn't, so they'd have to take his word for it.
"I'm going back to the band." "Nope." "I'm the man & you're the woman. Cheerio."

No! Oliver! is great!

I saw it on stage in that London a few months ago and it was very good indeed. Not as good as Wicked, but nothing is.

It's a film with songs in, as none of the characters burst into song for no reason while other characters stand (or dance) around like it's a perfectly normal thing to do.

It's a musical.

(Blues Brothers, that is.)

Agree with you there. But to my mind, this end of the Musical Spectrum goes:

Committments - - - Blues Brothers - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Grease - - - - - - - - Mary Poppins.

Hence Blues Brothers is closer to NotMusical than to Musical. And is therefore NotMusical.